Exwife 2's story
by Animaltalker
Summary: Lennie's ex wife is the witness to a robbery and murder. This was written in response to a challenge to write a piece from the POV of character other than one of the majors.


  
Candace still couldn't believe she'd watched Gus get blown away by that schmuck. If the guy hadn't wanted to have both hands free to paw at her he'd have never put the .45 down so she could try to get free. She'd remembered what her ex-husband had told her about how to get away from an unarmed attacker; she'd stomped down with her stiletto heel into the guy's instep and then grabbed his family jewels and given them a vicious twist. When the guy went down she hit the silent alarm behind the bar. The cops would be there in a few minutes. Just as she saw the guy get up she realized her mistake, she should have picked up his gun. He grabbed it and turned it on her. 

"You stupid bitch, I wasn't going to kill you, I just wanted to have some fun with you," she heard him say before he pulled the trigger. But nothing happened, the gun had jammed or something. The robber and would-be rapist looked at the gun swore and then turned and ran out of the bar. 

Candace sank to the floor behind the bar not three feet from Gus' body. She shivered though she couldn't have said whether it was because that guy had ripped her dress down the front leaving her in just her bra, underwear and stockings and the shredded remnants of the dress or because Gus' unseeing eyes seemed to be staring at her. 

Eventually she became aware of the sound of sirens. Uniformed police and EMS personnel buzzed around talking, someone asked her questions but she couldn't track what they were saying. She saw a man who had a windbreaker on that said Crime Scene Unit. He was looking at Gus and looking around the bar, putting some things in little bags. Then another man with the words Medical Examiner on his jacket knelt down and began looking at Gus. 

Suddenly she heard a familiar voice just outside the bar, "What have we got here?" he asked. 

The uniformed officer began giving information, "A robbery homicide with a witness, a cocktail waitress. She seems to be in shock, looks like the perp was maybe gonna rape her, least wise her dress was shredded down the front. She's in here if you want to try and get a statement out of her. So far she's not very responsive," the young officer reported. 

In only a moment she found herself being held by the one man who had ever meant anything to her, her ex-husband Detective Lennie Briscoe. She heard him call her Candy and she looked up into his dark blue eyes and then flung her arms around him tightly and sobbed. He shushed her and rubbed her back and put little kisses on the top of her hair all to try and calm her down. He gently pushed her away from him and then looking down at her state of dress he swore, "Damn, you're freezing. Couldn't any of you idiots think to give her a jacket or something," he said as he took off his suit coat and put it on her, rolling up the sleeves. 

"Candy honey, what happened?" he asked her. Oh how she wished he were only asking out of concern for her but she knew he was being a cop. It was what Lennie was, it was just about all he was and it was why he was her ex-husband. Oh well, she thought, 'now that he's here I feel safer, he always made me feel safe - except when he was mad at me, and maybe I can help him catch that schmuck that killed Gus.' 

She told Lennie what had happened, how she and Gus were closing up when this guy came out of the men's room and pulled out a gun. When Gus tried to push the silent alarm the guy shot him. She told him about the man's assault on her and how she got away from him the way he taught her to. Lennie asked her to describe the man and tell him which way he went when he left the bar. As she gave him the information and watched him jot things down in his notebook she realized she was finally getting to know what he did for a living. This is what he was doing all those nights he was torn from their bed by a phone call. 

As he was talking to her she saw a handsome black man approach. He tried to get Lennie away from her to talk but she clutched at his hands. "It's OK Candy, I'm not going far and I'll be right back. I promise," Lennie assured her. 

She watched Lennie talking to his partner she assumed, but couldn't overhear what they were saying, but at one point the black man looked over at her with a surprised look on his face. She could imagine why, she was blessed with great genes, her girlfriends liked to tease her that she was the female version of Dick Clark. She'd changed very little from the way she looked when she married Lennie 22 years ago. Probably made him look like a cradle robber now. 

"Candy, we need you to come back to the stationhouse and look at some mug shots," Lennie told her. 

"OK, Lennie, can I stop at my apartment and get some clothes?" she asked. 

"Uh, well we can get you something to wear at the stationhouse. It's very important that we figure out who this guy is as soon as possible before he can get away," Lennie said persuading her. 

When they arrived at the stationhouse a pretty Hispanic woman, Ana, Lennie had called her, offered to try to find some clothes for her from her own locker. 

"Here Candy, you're lucky, I brought in a spare set of clothes just yesterday," Ana said. 

"Thanks and it's Candace. Only Lennie calls me Candy," she told her. 

"Oh, all right Candace," Ana said. Candace knew the young woman was curious about her and Lennie. 

"It's OK and it's also OK if you want to ask me questions," she responded. 

The young woman looked conflicted. 

"How could you? I mean - Lennie's a terrific guy. It's hard to figure out why a woman would divorce him," she finally managed. 

"Well, first of all I didn't divorce him, he divorced me and I gave him plenty of reason to, believe me," Candace sighed. Ana looked a bit puzzled 

"Let's just say he got tired of how I spent all my lonely hours," Candace added. 

"Ah, you got tired of being a cop's wife?" Ana asked almost sounding as though she were accusing her of something. 

"Yep, " Candace answered and paused for a moment. "You know I didn't mind that he had a couple of daughters from his previous marriage that I had to play step-mom to on alternate weekends and holidays and 6 weeks each summer. I managed to take that bitch of an ex-wife of his in stride, even his drinking and gambling didn't bother me. What bothered me was feeling like he was married to that damn gold shield and that I was his mistress not his wife. I just wanted to be first in his life just once in a while," Candace said and started to cry, Ana moved to comfort her. 

"No, I'm OK," she said putting her hand up and then swiping the tears away. "I better get up there and look at the mug shots," Candace said as she finished tucking the blouse into the slacks both of which she'd borrowed from Ana. 

Candace thumbed through the mug shots. Lennie had brought her a cup of coffee, he'd fixed it just the way she liked it and that touched her that he still remembered. He sat with her and offered her support until a black woman came by and asked to see him in her office.  
Lennie's partner, she'd learned his name was Ed Green, stayed with her and she decided she would take this time to talk to him. 

"Ed, is Lennie in trouble?" she asked. 

"Nah, not really. I mean he probably should have begged out of the investigation when he realized you were involved, but the lieutenant won't be too hard on him as long as things work out OK," Ed replied. 

"Ed, could you promise me one thing?" Candace asked. 

"I guess that depends on what it is you want me to promise," Ed replied. 

"Take care of him, don't let anything happen to him," Candace said almost desperately. 

"Sure, but that seems like a strange thing for an ex-wife to ask," Ed replied. 

"I know, it's hard for someone to believe a woman could still be in love with her ex-husband but I am, and in my weaker moments I hope that someday he'll give up that damn gold shield and come back to me," Candace confessed. 

Before Ed could think of anything more to say Candace went back to looking at mug shots. Just as Lennie returned she found the right one. 

"That's him, that's the shmuck that shot Gus!" she exclaimed. 

"Good job, Candy!" Lennie said and hugged her. "OK, time to take you home, I'll get a uniformed officer to take you home," he added. 

"Will you take me, please?" she asked Lennie. As Lennie began to protest, Ed Green graciously stepped in and volunteered to handle everything else that needed to get done. 

"See you in the morning, Lennie," Ed said as they left the squad room. 

When they arrived at her apartment, she asked him to stay. 

"Candy, I can't," he answered. 

"Is that answer coming from Lennie or from Detective Briscoe or can't you tell them apart anymore?" Candace said as she broke down in tears. 

"Oh Candy, please, please don't cry," Lennie kissed her lips gently and she pulled him to her and then put all her heart and soul into the kiss. When she heard him moan she knew his resolve had melted and soon she felt herself swept off her feet and carried into her bedroom. 

In the morning she heard him get a call on his cell phone. From his side of the conversation she figured out that they'd caught the guy at JFK trying to leave the country. When the guy realized that with a witness and a weapon with his prints on it (a little white lie as they hadn't found the gun yet) he was in big trouble, a homicide committed in the commission of a felony would get him murder one, so he'd confessed and cut a deal. There wouldn't be a trial. Lennie needed to go in and finish up some paperwork and the case would be closed, an easy one, he'd said. 

She watched him dress, watched him put on his holster and pick up that damn gold shield, she sighed loudly. 

Lennie turned around to her and held the badge out in front of him. 

"In a few years, they're going to force me to give this badge up, maybe then," Lennie didn't finish the sentence but he looked at her. 

She smiled at him. "You know where to find me," she answered. 

He smiled and kissed her one more time before he went off again to be Detective Lennie Briscoe. 


End file.
